The National Scholarship Office will be hosting two information sessions on the SMART and RISE programs on Mon., Oct. 21 at 12pm in the School of Engineering East (401 W. Main St.), room E3210 and Tues., Oct 22 at 2pm in Hibbs (900 Park Ave.) in room 431. The SMART Scholarship for Service Program is an opportunity for students pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics to receive a full scholarship and be gainfully employed upon degree completion. RISE is a summer internship program for undergraduates in the fields of engineering, physics, chemistry, biology, earth sciences (geology) and related disciplines to conduct research in Germany during the summer. For more information, email honorsnsotar@vcu.edu.

Most of the MD-PhD Programs around the country joined forces to create a National MD-PhD Program Interview/Revisit Day Calendar. For those applicants with multiple interview offers, this might help organize their time and interview dates. To date, over 70 MD-PhD Programs are represented on this calendar.

In existence since the 1920’s, this service learning program offers participants a premier opportunity to shadow healthcare practitioners in rural and underserved communities both at primary healthcare clinics and birth centers, learn about Appalachia, and grow personally.

Site placements are located in the Appalachian regions of Kentucky and Tennessee. Read more about the program by visitingwww.frontier.edu/courier.

Applications 2014 program (June 9 – August 1) are due February 1, 2014 and will be online soon. Accepted applicants will be notified during February 2014 after an oral interview process.

Click on a link below to read the vacancy on careers.state.gov, learn more about qualifications and requirements, and to start the Gateway to State online application process via USAJobs.

Please read the vacancy announcements carefully for all qualifications, certifications and requirements. Applicants must be U.S. citizens between the ages of 21 and 59, able to qualify for a top secret security clearance, and be able to obtain all required medical and suitability clearances. Applicants must also be willing to serve worldwide.

Last month, we shared how graduating within four years or less might help you save money and time and possibly reduce the amount of debt you incur in college. This month, ExploreHealthCareers provides information about scholarships and merit aid. It’s never too early to think about reducing your undergraduate debt while also thinking about how you might pay for graduate school.

This article includes a description of a program that helps graduate students continue their studies in a health professions program, such as medical school.

In Part 1: Know Your Actual Costs, we explained that the sticker price for college can be reduced significantly in some cases by institutional aid and scholarships. Here are a few strategies to keep in mind as you pursue these types of funding.

Be Strategic about Your College Scholarship Search

As you begin your search, you should think carefully and strategically about which scholarships you apply for and how many. Focus on finding scholarships that fit your interests, skills and abilities while also offering awards large enough to reduce your tuition by a beneficial amount. Applying for many scholarships that offer very small awards may not be worth the time it takes. Be sure to note the deadlines to receive applications and the deadlines by which you need to submit applications.

ExploreHealthCareers.org (EHC) includes a national database of over 300 sources of funding exclusively for health professions students. In addition to scholarships, EHC’s website includes loan forgiveness and loan repayment programs that involve service commitments and grants and fellowships to help pay for school. Using EHC’s funding database can help you save time by researching possible funding opportunities in one place on the Web.

Merit/Academic Scholarships

The first place to look for merit aid is at the school you want to attend. Awarded by the school as part of the financial aid package, institutional grants and scholarships are one type of aid that can significantly reduce the amount you have to borrow and pay back. These types of awards are reserved for the most academically competitive students whose grades, test scores and personal attributes make them more attractive to a particular college. Keep in mind that it can be more difficult to receive an academic scholarship at a highly competitive school. Schools typically offer their most generous scholarships to their more competitive applicants. Your chances of obtaining this type of scholarship may be greater at an institution where you are in that group of more competitive applicants.

At the insistence of her mom, who works in an admissions office, Christina Morales applied and was accepted to the Macaulay Honors College at The City University of New York (CUNY) at Hunter College. In addition to providing a comprehensive scholarship package (full undergraduate tuition excluding fees), the program provides accepted students with a new laptop, a grant of up to $7,500 to support global research and opportunities for service and internships. The program has its own advising office and students are assigned the same advisor for four years. Students must enroll in eight honors courses and maintain a 3.5 GPA to continue receiving the scholarship and benefits. There is a formal application process and admission is highly selective.

Christina graduated from the program this year with absolutely no debt.

National Health Service Corp Scholarship

Sarah Stephens always knew she wanted to become a pediatrician. During her senior year in high school, she had an amazing service experience on an Indian reservation. This exposure helped her make the commitment to join the National Health Service Corps.

The National Health Service Corps (NHSC) Scholarship Program awards scholarships to college graduates pursuing careers in primary care. The program is designed to address shortages in communities with limited access to care. Eligible disciplines include primary care physicians (M.D. and D.O.), dentists (D.D.S. or D.M.D.), family nurse practitioners, certified nurse-midwives and primary care physician assistants. The program covers a student’s tuition, required fees and educational costs, in addition to providing a monthly support stipend for a minimum of two years and a maximum of four years. For every year of scholarship funding, one year of service commitment is required.

NHSC scholarship recipients must fulfill their service requirements at an NHSC-approved site. These can include rural health clinics; hospital-affiliated, primary care outpatient clinics; private practices and other health facilities located in Health Professional Shortage Areas across the United States.

Because of her exposure to community service, Sarah was certain she wanted to pursue this career path before she enrolled in medical school. She says, “This is not a program for someone who is not positive about what they want to go into.” Once you make the commitment, you are required to fulfill the service requirement.

Sarah will graduate from undergraduate and medical school without any debt. Her parents started saving for her college education when she was very young, and the NHSC played a critical role in helping her graduate from medical school debt free. “If you want to go into primary care, this is the best kept secret in the world,” she notes.

How can you learn more about primary care and working with underserved populations? Volunteer at an urban or rural clinic in a Health Professional Shortage Area. Find a mentor who is passionate about providing care to the underserved. Ideally, the earlier you have these experiences the better. It will help you decide if a program like NHSC is right for you.

Plan Ahead for an Affordable Education

This article series provided several strategies to help reduce and possibly eliminate debt in college. ExploreHealthCareers wants you to be educated and informed about available choices for how to pay for college. A merit scholarship or service commitment scholarship can significantly reduce or even eliminate the need to take out loans. If you work hard, get good grades and strive to do your best, you will increase your chances of becoming eligible for scholarships.

The Expected Family Contribution (EFC) assumes that the college applicant’s family will pay something toward college tuition, and private scholarships cannot replace the EFC. The best way to make sure college is affordable is to save money well in advance. If you are eligible for need-based aid, keep in mind that outside scholarships at some schools often reduce your financial aid. To learn more, visitFastweb.com.

Armed with the resources described in this series, you should be well on your way to a significantly smaller loan bill when you graduate or maybe even a debt-free education.

The College Scholarship Service (CSS) PROFILE is administered by the College Board’s financial aid division. Required by some private colleges and universities, the PROFILE form allows students to apply for non-federal financial aid at 400 private colleges and scholarship programs.

Finaid.org and Fastweb.com, published by noted financial aid expert Mark Kantrowitz, offer advice on financial aid and scholarship resources. Finaid.org provides free, comprehensive information about financial aid. Fastweb.com is a free scholarship matching service that includes information on 1.5 million scholarships worth over $3.4 billion.

My College Dollars is a Facebook application that uses information from a student’s profile to connect him or her to scholarship opportunities. The application was created in 2012 through a partnership of The College Board, MTV and Get Schooled.

What does that even mean? It makes me think of people who say, “I’m a dog person” or “a cat person.”

The idea is to show potential employers (or potential clients) you get along with people without saying, “My etiquette skills rock.” Because in a me-focused world, employers want to know if you will get along with others or be a human volcano of bickering, fighting, gossiping, whining, blaming… and leaving a splash of coffee on the bottom of the coffee pot to burn, instead of refilling it after you take the last cup. Nobody wants that in their workplace.

There’s a better way to show you get along with others and that’s to say it on your resume (or sales materials) by starting each bullet point with what I call, “I-work-well-with-others action words.”

I get this question often and I don’t think I’ve ever had it as a Tip of the Week: What if wine or coffee is being served and I don’t want any?

Do not reach out your hand to cover the top of the glass or cup (especially if you do not want hot coffee accidentally poured on your hand.) Do not turn your glass or your coffee cup upside down. If the coffee cup is already upside down on the table, leave it.

A simple, “No thank you,” will do. (See? Etiquette is easy — not difficult at all.)

If you accept the wine or coffee, leave your glass or coffee cup resting on the table while the beverage is being poured. Don’t try to hold it in the air while someone else pours.

Tomorrow is the day! Register now for a complimentary webinar full of valuable advice about preparing for global health internships. The Global Health Fellows Program II (GHFP-II) places interns at USAID during the summer and throughout the year, so it’s important to be preparing now for opportunities in global health.

Would you like to know what global heath recruiters are thinking? In this webinar recruiting staff and a former intern answer your questions about our internship program – live! The content has been shaped by questions from you, so it’s relevant and focused on the needs of you and your peers. Learn how to better present your strengths so that global health recruiters will take notice. We will reveal the key qualities and attributes recruiters seek, common mistakes and misconceptions, and strategies for using the next few months to better prepare yourself for global health opportunities.

Tune in to learn about:

GHFP-II and USAID

the GHFP-II internship application process

the intern experience, straight from the source

What you can do now to make your application stand out!

This webinar comes at no cost to you, and is available wherever internet access is available. This webinar will be presented with closed captioning. Register now!

Best regards,

Bob Leone

Lead, Outreach and Communications

Global Health Fellows Program II

GHFP-II Webinar

Be Bold, Be Brave, Be Prepared – Be a Global Health Intern Next Summer!